


Bloom in a Garden of Love

by hopelessly_me



Category: Marvel
Genre: Confused Bucky, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Sick Clint, Small bit of angst, sick Bucky, worried Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24183565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessly_me/pseuds/hopelessly_me
Summary: Bucky's holding on to a weird secret- for some reason he keeps coughing up rose petals. He thinks maybe he can hide it until events take a terrifying turn.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 21
Kudos: 132





	Bloom in a Garden of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CountessOfLovelace (Original_Cypher)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Original_Cypher/gifts).



> Thank you Alice for the awesome prompt! It may have taken me awhile to get here, but I hope you enjoy it. =)

It started out as something that was both terrifying and easy to hide. Bucky was in the range and on the rafters with Clint, a habit they had formed post practice. They were going on about how Steve and Tony fell for an obvious trap and the two snipers on the team had to save their asses. “Team leaders” the two assassins mocked, nothing but smirks on their faces. Clint was nearly doubled over, and if it wasn’t for seeing how competent Clint was, Bucky would have been nervous. And that's when Bucky coughed, turned his head, and felt something soft hit. He stared down at the rose petal in his hand, confused.

“Bro? You alright?” Clint asked.

“Yeah,” Bucky lied quickly, slapping his hand down on the rafter and faking a grin. “Losin’ a lung over here is all. And here I thought being a super soldier meant I wasn’t going to die from lung cancer from all the smokes back in the day.”

Clint grinned. “Maybe your knock-off serum is just as shit as Tasha’s,” he taunted before he leapt and landed on the rafter below. “Come on, Buck. Let’s grab lunch, I’m feeling like a burrito.”

Bucky nodded and lifted his hand to stare at the purple rose petal once more. He had a sinking feeling in his gut, but he had to ignore it. Instead, he swung down the rafters with Clint and headed for their lunch.

Bucky couldn’t put a finger on when he started developing feelings for the archer. In fact, when he first met Clint he hadn’t liked the guy at all. Bucky tried to avoid being around Clint as much as possible. Steve had said it was an act, and that as soon as Clint felt comfortable around Bucky he would tone it down- that they would likely become good friends with shared experiences and hobbies. Tony, on the other hand, said he hoped it continued because Clint was “on fire” with all the “burns” over the communication lines. Bucky was pretty sure he didn’t like Tony either.

About three months into meeting Clint, the two were sent on a mission together. It had started out being mildly annoying and quickly turned to a near death experience; there was nothing like the looming feeling of death to bring two people together. Clint tugged down his vest, his head bleeding, and he grinned at Bucky and told him that he had been through worse. Somehow- Bucky believed him. Things somehow took a turn for the better, and they managed to complete the mission before Steve had to send backup.

After they got home and Clint healed, there was no stopping them. Steve rose an eyebrow, the unspoken “I told you so” hanging in the air. Now the communication lines had two people snarking at the others, and Natasha declared them to be “exhausting”. Clint snuck them out into the city often, going sightseeing and eating way too much food in the process. Sightseeing changed to sneaking out late at night to hit up different bars, or coffee shops, or basically anything they found that was even remotely exciting. 

Bucky realized he had feelings for Clint when he caught the blond trying to sneak into the Tower, soaking wet and bleeding while carrying a dog. His eyes locked on Bucky’s and his shoulders pulled up and his eyes started watering.  _ I couldn’t just leave him _ Clint had said and Bucky could still hear the hurt in the way his voice cracked. Bucky’s only response was to take the dog carefully from Clint and tell JARVIS to order some dog food and supplies.

“Yo, Earth to Bucko,” Clint said, waving his hand past Bucky’s face. “You got this, space cadet? You good?”

“I’m fine,” Bucky grumbled before he elbowed Clint. “Where are we getting a burrito from?”

“Hmm. Hey FRIDAY!” Clint called out as he put his weaponry away.

If nothing else, Bucky knew he could use food to distract Clint. He watched him for a second before he put his weapons away and changed into new clothing. His mind wandered back to the rafters, to the random rose petal.

“Ready to go?” Clint asked, grabbing his wallet before he adjusted his sweatshirt.

“If you’re buyin’,” Bucky answered.

It seemed like once a week Bucky found himself in a coughing fit, and each time there would be a vibrant purple rose petal deposited in his hand that he would have to promptly hide. If he were lucky, he would be alone in his room when it happened. Most of the time he was out with Clint, and hiding it would be a hell of a lot harder because he was observant. 

Logically, he knew this wasn’t normal. It shouldn’t even be a thing. But Bucky stared down at the fifth rose petal in his hand and wondered if maybe he should tell someone about it. He also considered googling it, because that’s what Steve did whenever he needed help figuring something out. But what the hell do you google? Why am I yakking up rose petals? Bucky was pretty sure he was going to get pictures he didn’t want to see. He had done that several times now- it was only getting increasingly more embarrassing.

Bucky sighed and looked out the window at the dreary day outside. He was supposed to be going out with Clint. They had made a plan to go to Central Park and people watch; well, Bucky would people watch while Clint would dog watch. Bucky really didn’t care what they did or where they went. He sighed and rubbed his face.

_ I am an idiot. I should just talk to him about it.  _ Why did talking have to be so hard? Maybe he should confide in Natasha- if nothing else, she knew Clint the best. She would at least tell him if Clint was even remotely interested. Or she would find it too amusing and not reveal anything. It was a toss up really.

Bucky’s phone went off and he looked down.  _ Well, this weather sucks _ Clint had sent followed by the sad face emoji. Bucky watched the dots dance across the bottom of the screen.  _ Movie night in my apartment? Got popcorn and booze _ . Bucky smiled and sent the thumbs up emoji before he set his phone down. The day was saved- he would be able to hang out with Clint after all. And maybe tonight would be the night he would finally fess up. He picked up his phone and looked at the clip of a child dancing excitedly on his screen. Bucky ducked his head and smiled before he tucked it away.

Bucky made it up to Clint’s floor and didn’t bother knocking. “Should we order pizza?” Bucky asked.

“If you want,” Clint answered from the kitchen. “If not, I’m pretty sure I’ve got stuff to make something. Uh- how do you feel about grilled cheese and tomato soup?”

Bucky made his way to the kitchen. “You cook?”

“Extremely well. Kinda had to learn,” Clint answered.

“Wait, so this whole time you led everyone to believe that you can’t cook and for your turn at family night you and Natasha are the  _ only _ ones allowed to order out… and you can cook.” Clint shrugged his shoulders, not looking the least bit ashamed. “Holy shit, you’re a genius.”

Clint laughed and pulled out a flat top and plugged it in. “It’s not like I can make anything too amazing. I can grill pretty damn good. I know how to make a lot of basic stuff. I’m not Tony and Pepper who take classes together, or Bruce for that matter. Hey, maybe we should take a cooking class. That could be fun. Anyway- it’s just grilled cheese and canned soup. Nothing fancy here, Barnes.”

“Okay, but what is the fanciest thing you know how to make?” Bucky asked, grabbing the butter and cheese out of the fridge and tossing them Clint’s way.

Clint was silent for a bit before he tilted his head. “I know how to make some good enchiladas. Oh, and I can bake. So funny story-”

Bucky listened to Clint go off on a tangent about how he learned how to bake, which actually was sort of funny because he was on a long-term mission over in Italy and that’s where he learned how to bake from the older lady next door because according to her, he was too thin. Apparently, the only thing he could never get a handle on was bread. To this day, whenever he was sent towards Italy, he would visit the older lady he affectionately called nonna and would bring her flowers and trinkets, and of course chocolate.

Bucky was more shocked to learn something about Clint he didn’t share with the others. He had to admit, he thought his knowledge on Clint was all a basic level, something everyone on the team knew. Bucky didn’t realize that there was a chance that he was learning things only Natasha would have inside knowledge on.

Clint worked about the kitchen as if he actually had an idea of what he was doing. “You know… if I had known that, we would have been eating here a lot more.”

“Which is why no one knows,” Clint answered with a mischievous grin. “Anyway! Half the time I don’t feel like cooking. Usually I’m just coming back from somewhere, or I’m all taped up, injured, whatever. But it’s been fairly quiet and I guess… I’ve got some pent up energy so cooking is easy. Hey! If you tell the team, I’m never going to cook for you again.”

“After you told me the story of nonna teaching you how to make a proper eggplant parmesan? Your secret is safe with me,” Bucky promised. “And that sponge cake sounds heavenly.”

“Yeah, it’s not bad,” Clint answered, grabbing two bowls and two plates. “Maybe I should try making grilled cheese with tomato paste and ricotta in it.”

“Beer?” Bucky asked, opening the fridge.

“Mhhh, yes please.” Clint balanced two plates and a bowl of soup on one arm before he grabbed the final bowl. “So what are we feeling like?” he asked.

Between the meal and all the snacks, Bucky was fairly certain his stomach was going to explode. He settled against the arm of the couch, trying to focus on the movie. It was about halfway through that Clint leapt up and started coughing up a lung, heading to the bathroom. Bucky frowned and paused the movie, debating whether or not he should head over to check on the resident archer.

Clint emerged a couple of minutes later, looking paler than a ghost and a little on the clammy side. “Sorry about that. Pretty sure I caught something,” he mumbled.

“You sure you’re alright? You sounded like death. Hell, you kinda look like death,” Bucky commented.

“Just my natural good looks,” Clint said, dismissing the idea before he sat down. “End of the flu season. Knowing my luck, I caught the strain the vaccine doesn’t protect against or some scientific crap.” Clint sat back down in his spot and pulled his legs up. “Alright, so where were we?” he asked.

“You sure you’re okay?” Bucky asked. 

Clint rolled his eyes and grabbed the remote and turned the movie back on. Bucky kept glancing Clint’s way to check on him, but if he wasn’t feeling well, he wasn’t giving it away. He reacted appropriately at each joke and punch line, occasionally reaching over to hit Bucky. Bucky finally settled back into the movie, convinced that Clint was telling the truth.

As the weeks passed, Bucky saw less and less of Clint. Clint kept saying he wasn’t feeling well, that it would pass at some point. Steve had mentioned that sometimes Clint would spiral into a “funk”, but he would come around sooner or later. Bucky could understand that, it wasn’t like he didn’t have his bad days.

However, this was different. Anytime he caught sight of Clint he looked pale and miserable. There was even a Doombot call, and for the first time since Bucky had known him, Clint wasn’t enthusiastic about it. In practice, Clint was losing focus, was out of breath and sweating more. But whenever approached about it, Clint waved it off like it was nothing.

All the same, Bucky was still hacking a lung at least once a week. He stared down at the flower petals in his hand, increasing in amount, and was frozen. They weren’t the same color as they had been before. The purple had been replaced with a deep red, which Bucky was sure had to mean something. He resigned himself to actually looking through all the old HYDRA documents, trying to find something that might explain it. They weren’t opposed to running experiments on him back in the day between cryo stints. After three days of researching, nothing came back that would explain the vomiting.

Bucky considered his options before he resigned himself to the fact that he needed to bring this up to someone. The question was who. The logical choice was Steve, even if the punk was going to lose his cool about it, especially after he learned how long Bucky waited to say something. He had considered taking it to Tony or Bruce- they were the science nerds of the group; certainly one of them would know something, or at least be able to figure it out. He could bypass them all and just bring it up at his next S.H.I.E.L.D. therapy talk, go straight to medical from there and listen to Steve complain about it at a later time.

There was a knock at his door that drew him back to the here and now, and Bucky answered it. “Steve?” he asked. Steve looked a little pale, his eyebrows pulled in. Bucky recognized the look- he was troubled. “You alright punk?”

“No. I mean, I am okay but…” Steve sighed. “I thought I should let you know that Clint was admitted into a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital two hours ago. Natasha found him unconscious in his room.”

Bucky’s heart felt like it stopped for a moment, his mind reeling. “What happened?” he asked.

“We have no idea,” Steve answered. “They are running a panel of tests. All Natasha said was that he was laying in a small pool of blood and there were flowers mixed in.” Bucky nodded numbly. “I just figured you might want to know because you are good friends with him and everything. I was going to head that way. Tony and Bruce should already be there.”

Bucky nodded again and swallowed. “So. This might not be good timing, but it’s kind of the best timing,” Bucky said nervously. “I think it may be a curse or something.”

“Excuse me?” Steve asked, shifting his weight.

Bucky grazed on his lip for a moment. “I was just coming to talk to you because… I have had the same thing happen. The… flowers.” He walked over to his trash and dug out a tissue before holding it out. “I coughed this out earlier today.”

Steve marched forward and snatched the tissue from Bucky and looked at it. “What the- Buck! How long has this been going on?” he asked angrily.

“A couple of months. Two or three,” Bucky answered.

“Bucky!”

“Look, if I am coughing these up occasionally, and Clint had started to do the same thing, maybe this is linked. Maybe on a mission we got cursed. Is there someone that does curses?” Bucky asked.

“I don’t know! Do you have any idea how many missions we have all been on lately?” Steve asked before he walked. “Come on. This changes things. Or at least it makes matters much, much worse.”

Bucky felt bad instantly as he followed Steve. The ride to the hospital was done in near silence, Steve stewing. It wasn’t often he saw Steve’s neck and ears turn red from anger, but he was certainly there. Bucky didn’t want to make it any worse by talking about it more. If Steve asked something, Bucky would respond, but he wasn’t going to willingly offer up any details of what happened.

Once they were in the hospital, Bucky finally became more nervous. There were a lot of people there, and a lot of attention was drawn whenever Steve walked into any S.H.I.E.L.D. building. He walked as if he were on a mission, taking long, even strides, and even Bucky was having to work double to play catch up. Just down the hall he saw Natasha standing outside of a room, leaning against the wall.

“How’s Barton?” Steve asked.

“Living,” Natasha answered. “Why do you look like you are going to strangle someone?”

“Because this just got worse. Where’s Banner and Stark?”

“Down this way,” Natasha asked, leading them back to a room that Tony and Bruce had converted into their own personal office for this matter.

“We have a problem,” Steve said as he walked in.

“What gave it away? Clint unconscious?” Tony snapped. Bucky touched Steve, hoping it was enough to keep him in check. Tony looked absolutely stressed out. “Everything is weird, nothing is making sense. None of his symptoms are matching up with anything we know. His oxygen levels are-”

“Bucky has been coughing up flower petals,” Steve interrupted. Tony blinked several times while Bruce looked up, trying to analyze the words. “For a few months he said. And then we find Clint today with blood and flowers. They have to be related somehow. What if it’s infectious?”

“We would see the infection, and he would be running a fever,” Bruce answered. “What do you mean, exactly, that you have been coughing up flower petals?” he asked.

“A few months ago I just started hacking up a lung, and a flower petal would be in my hand. It was a rose petal but purple,” Bucky answered. “It happens maybe once a week? It started with one but now it’s up to a few.”

“And you didn’t find this important to tell us?” Tony asked. Bucky didn’t have a good answer for that so he remained silent. “So we have two Avengers coughing up flowers. Hey Red- you got any secrets? Looks like your clique has a thing going. Got anything you want to admit to?”

“Do I appear to be someone that would hide information like that?” Natasha asked. “So now we have something to focus on. Apparently the flowers came from within Clint and wasn’t an external source. That has to mean something.”

“We’re still waiting back for his scans,” Bruce said. “We should be able to see what is going on inside Clint with them. Bucky, I think now might be a good time we start evaluating your situation too.”

“While Bruce works that angle, I am going to place a few calls,” Tony said. “See if any of our friends might have a clue as to what this is. Bucky, no coughing up bloody flowers. One seriously ill Avenger is enough for one day, alright?” he asked, grabbing his phone before he walked out.

“Come on, let’s get you in a robe,” Bruce said gently to Bucky. “We need blood samples and to do a few scans.”

Bucky nodded and looked at Steve. “Just try to stay calm, alright? Everything is going to be fine.”

“Says the guy coughing up flowers,” Steve replied, mildly annoyed.

Bucky sighed and left the room with Bruce. At least Bruce saved him the lecture, and mostly looked sympathetic. They worked quietly with a nurse on the blood draws, what he needed ran from them. Then they went to the scanner, which Bucky suspected he wasn’t going to be a fan of; instead, he was greeted with a mostly open air scanner, so he wouldn’t be encased in a tube.

When that was all done, he was hooked up to some device that was taking vitals on a consistent basis and left to wait with everyone else quietly. Steve had mostly regained his composure, and Bucky had a sneaky suspicion it’s because Natasha played the middle man. As much as she claimed not to be a talkative person, she seemed to handle the team the most effectively when it came to diffusing situations.

Visiting hours were drawing to a close, and even the Avengers had to obey those rules. Natasha made the argument that Clint was in a precarious spot, and was allowed to stay since she was in charge of his medical decisions when he wasn’t able to make the decisions himself. However, since Bucky wasn’t in a distressed state, Steve had to pack his bags. Bucky found it amusing because he wasn’t so sure any guards would force Steve to leave; now the medical staff however...

“Call me if anything changes. I mean it,” Steve said, hovering in the doorway.

“Yeah, got it, Punk,” Bucky said. “We’ll see you in the morning. And hey, bring me a book or something.” Steve nodded and left the room. Bucky sighed and sat down on his bed next to Natasha. “What a mess.” Natasha nodded in agreement. “Do you mind if I sneak over? I haven’t even glanced in there yet.”

“Have at it,” Natasha answered. “We’ll figure it out.”

Bucky nodded and got up and moved across the hall, taking timid steps. He wasn’t sure he would be prepared to walk into the hospital room and see Clint hooked up. It wasn’t the first time he had visited him in a hospital room, all banged up. But this was different. Whatever was affecting Bucky was also affecting Clint, and Bucky couldn’t help but to blame himself for this. Maybe if he would have brought up the flower petals sooner they could have figured out what was going on before Clint caught whatever it was that Bucky had.

Bucky stood by the head of Clint’s bed. He didn’t look remotely peaceful as he slept, his breathing heavy. Bucky reached down and touched his shoulder lightly, scared to hurt him. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault,” Bucky whispered, feeling himself getting worked up before he pulled a chair over. “I should have told someone… then you wouldn’t be-” Bucky closed his eyes and bowed his head. He took a deep breath. “You pull through this, and I swear I’m going to-”

Clint made a quiet noise and Bucky head the bed shift a little. Clint opened his eyes groggily before he closed them, squeezing them tight. “Ow,” he muttered. He licked his lips and whimpered.

“It’s okay. Do you need a nurse? Should I call someone?” Bucky asked quickly before he noticed that Clint wasn’t wearing his hearing aids. Bucky reached out and touched his arm again. Clint tilted his head just enough to look over at Bucky. “Do you need help?” Bucky asked slowly, taking his times to form the words. Clint stared blankly at him and Bucky tried to sign it before he gave up and fumbled his way through putting one hearing aid in. “Do you need help?”

“No,” Clint said, his voice scratchy. He started to cough and rolled onto his side. Bucky stood up quickly and held onto him and watched petal after petal come out, some looking closer to full flowers.

“Nat!” Bucky called out, starting to panic the longer the coughing fit went on. “Natasha! Someone!”

Clint settled and curled into himself a little, his face marked up in pain. He looked up at Bucky, his eyes watering. “I love you,” he said softly. “If I… if I don’t-”

“Don’t say it,” Bucky said breathlessly.

“I wanted to tell you that I love you,” Clint finished weakly.

Bucky leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I love you too. God, Clint, I-”

The room was in a flurry of activity and Bucky got pushed off to the side. Startled, Clint started coughing all over again, and Bucky reached out, wanting to stay close, but he was moved out of the room by a nurse that claimed they needed more space. Bucky stumbled back out of the room, blinking away the tears that had formed and feeling a little lost. He turned around and saw Natasha standing in the doorway to his room, eerily calm even if she was a little pale.

“I can’t lose him,” Bucky whispered.

“Hopefully you won’t have to,” Natasha answered.

“We got an answer,” Tony said the next day. “Or a theory. And it doesn’t make any sense but I am slowly coming to terms with absolutely nothing we deal with anymore makes sense.” 

Bucky looked up from his bed. So far this morning he had coughed, but there weren’t any flower petals. He hadn’t slept that night, looking out his window to gaze into Clint’s. He had been sleeping for six hours now, and somehow even he looked a little better. His breathing still looked like it was struggling to stay caught up, but he hadn’t coughed a single time. Natasha was sitting in there, telling the boys that if they actually needed her for something to let her know; otherwise, she was not leaving Clint’s room.

“Alright, let’s hear it. Who came up with the theory?” Bucky asked.

“Strange,” Tony answered. “He consulted with some of his colleagues to confirm. He is thinking it was a curse placed on the team when we had a mission six months ago in Korea. It’s referred to as Hanahaki disease and is fairly common in lore on that side of the world. When someone is in love but the feelings aren’t known or returned, the person starts, well, coughing up flower petals.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Steve said firmly.

“Yeah, well, google it,” Tony answered. “Apparently it starts out as something minor, like yours. A petal here and there, nothing major. And as if develops…” he tilted his head over to Clint’s room. “It can be deadly.”

“So what do we do?” Steve asked.

“Well, two options that Strange brought up. When birdbrain wakes up, we make him confess to whoever the hell he loves and fingers crossed his soulmate or whatever agrees. Or… there is a surgery to remove it, but the legend goes that if we remove it, it removes feelings or… okay, Bruce, want to take over?” Tony asked.

“But you were doing so well,” Bruce said innocently. “I will just pull up the websites Stephen had us read, and then we can all be confused together. In the meantime, while Clint is asleep, I think we should run another scan, get more images and see how rapidly this is spreading.”

“Wait, if this happened six months ago, why is he like that, and Bucky is like this?” Steve asked. “Shouldn’t they be on the same level?”

“If I had to guess, I would say the serum heals over the disease before it can progress,” Bruce answered. “It could also mean that Bucky hadn’t developed feelings for someone at the same time as Clint. There are a lot of variables at place.”

Bucky looked over at Clint again.  _ Unrequited love _ he thought. Six months was a long time ago, and if Clint was this sick- how long had he known he was in love with Bucky? Maybe that was why Clint was angling to spend so much time with Bucky, all those seemingly random days out were his way to try to figure out how to tell Bucky how he felt. And all the while Bucky had been-

Bucky slowly started to smile and looked down. “I don’t… think all that is going to be necessary,” Bucky said as he got up. “You can tell Dr. Strange that it’s all fixed.”

“What do you mean it’s all fixed?” Steve asked.

“Clint’s going to get better. And hell, I’ve coughed today and I’m better- no petals,” Bucky answered as he walked to the door. “Clint and I kinda sorta talked it out yesterday.”

Bruce was the first one to react with a smile. Steve and Tony both looked to be just as perplexed as the other. Bucky was out the door when he heard Tony call out “Barton was seriously about to die from flower power because he didn’t want to tell a guy he loves him? What world is this?”

Bucky pulled a chair up next to Natasha’s and sat down. “So… you are probably going to laugh and punch us,” he mused.

Natasha looked over before she leaned back. “Oh, I cannot wait to hear this.”

Bucky was alone in Clint’s room later that night. Bucky was merely being held for observation, all of his tests coming back clean. And while Clint’s scans hadn’t yet, the growth around his lungs was diminishing, and his breathing was slowly going back to normal. Tony guessed he would be stuck in the hospital for another five days, just to be sure.

“What a life,” Clint grumbled as he woke up. “Am I dead yet?”

“Death sent you back, said you are too much of a pain in his ass,” Bucky answered.

Clint’s lips pulled up into a smirk and he coughed, only a few petals coming out. “He coulda done me a favor and made this girlie shit stop.” He looked at Bucky and held a hand out. “Tissue me.” Bucky grabbed the box of tissues and tossed it at him. “So, uh, hi.”

“So, uh, hi,” Bucky replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Well… I coughed up flower petals so I’m going with eh,” Clint answered. He jabbed at the button on the side of the bed so he could sit up. “My chest feels like it's on fire, my throat is killing me.”

“So you thought talking was a good idea.”

Clint waved a hand dismissively at Bucky. “You don’t sign. So- what the hell happened?”

“Short story. Cursed with some disease that makes you spew flower petals while you pine over someone,” Bucky said. “Could have killed you.”

“I’m not sure if that’s girlie or badass,” Clint replied carefully. “Death by flowers. That would be an interesting autopsy report. And the curse broke how?”

“You told me you loved me, and well, I love you,” Bucky answered.

“Awww, now we sound like a Disney, Hallmark movie,” Clint whined. Bucky stared at him and waited until it dawned on Clint. “Wait- back up. You  _ love _ me?” he asked in awe. “Wait! Another question. If  _ we _ got cursed, how? When? How come no one else was?”

“Tony has Pepper,” Bucky said. “Natasha is aromantic. And Steve is practically married to his job. Although they are making sure he is un-cursed as soon as possible, if he still is.”

“Can’t he marry the shield? I mean, that  _ is _ his first love,” Clint said, smirking.

Bucky snorted. “Either way. It’s based on some old legend. It happened back in Korea. Wanna tell me just how long you’ve been pining over me?”

“Not particularly,” Clint answered shyly, looking down. “Shit, Barnes. What the hell do we do?”

“What do you want to do?” Bucky asked.

“Drag you up onto this bed, kiss you stupid, and force you to stay the night.” Bucky smiled a little more and leaned forward in his chair. “Pretty sure I have flower breath.”

“Pretty sure you’re an idiot,” Bucky shot back before he stood up. “Move.”

“You serious?” Clint asked. Bucky rolled his eyes. “Okay.  _ Okay _ . Don’t snark me with the eyes. It’s rude.” Clint moved over slowly, and Bucky kicked off his shoes before he climbed in and laid on his side. “Think we can convince Tony to fly us to the Tower and monitor from there? This bed is tiny.”

“You whine a lot. You got me in bed. Going to make part two of your statement-” Bucky couldn’t finish the sentence before Clint rolled over and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Now I am just going to be listening to Sara Bareilles music all day. Seriously- her music is amazing.   
> 2) I never thought I would spend so much time looking up an old legend and I'm really hoping I got this one right. =X It's a super interesting concept.


End file.
